We’re thrilled to announce that Lumar is launching new site speed metrics within our broader website intelligence platform!  The new site speed features extend Lumar’s capabilities as a crucial multi-disciplinary website optimization solution. Lumar users can now streamline their website health workflows with a single platform offering centralized, actionable insights into technical SEO, website accessibility, and site speed — all in one place. Join the upcoming Site Speed Audits webinar for a sneak peak of the new Lumar metrics – Register here. Site Speed Metrics in Lumar: Key ..read more

We know that Google cares about website speed enough to factor it into its search ranking algorithm (in the form of Core Web Vitals), but just how much of a priority should site speed be for website teams in 2024? Does site speed affect search engine rankings? In short, yes.  Google first confirmed that site speed is a ranking factor over a decade ago! Back in 2010, the company wrote on its Google Search Central blog: “You may have heard that here at Google we’re obsessed with speed, in our products and on the web. As part of that effort, today we’re including a new signal in our search r ..read more

Last week, hundreds of SEO professionals gathered in London for the latest Women in Tech SEO Festival, which fell on 8th of March 2024 – International Women’s Day – this year. Talk topics covered technical SEO and digital marketing strategies, bias in generative AI, and professional and personal development for those working in the SEO industry. Read on for key takeaways from the SEO-focused conference talks — and don’t forget to sign up for the next WTS events: June 7, 2024 in Berlin September 19, 2024 in Philadelphia (Sponsored by Lumar!) WTS founder Areej AbuAli on stage at the Women in T ..read more

The cases for and against AI search optimization (“AIO”) Website professionals are split in how they are thinking about new AI-powered search features like Google’s SGE, Gemini, or Bing’s incorporation of GPT-4. Some, like Tony Stubblebine, CEO at Medium, bristle at the idea of an LLM “stealing” their content and delivering (likely sans click) it to users directly in SGE, Bard, ChatGPT, Bing, or another platform’s AI tool. On Medium last year, he wrote: “AI companies have leached value from writers in order to spam Internet readers.” With this in mind, Medium has now attempted to block AI craw ..read more

INP (Interaction to Next Paint) will replace FID (First Input Delay) in Google’s Core Web Vitals metrics on March 12, 2024.  Google is evolving its Core Web Vitals metrics to replace its “First Input Delay” (FID) metric with “Interaction to Next Paint” (INP). This change to the search algorithm’s UX-focused ranking system will take place on March 12, 2024.  INP will offer a more comprehensive analysis of user experience than its FID predecessor, as it samples all interactions on the web page to make its assessment — rather than looking only at a user’s first interaction on a pag ..read more

In 2024, SEO professionals need to address not only their sites’ content quality but also the quality of their website’s user experience. Just as Google dropped hints about its increasing focus on content quality before launching the Helpful Content System and subsequent updates, Google has also been dropping hints about the growing importance of user experience for search ranking for years now.  UX came to the forefront as an SEO factor when Google first launched its Core Web Vitals back in 2021. With updated metrics coming to Core Web Vitals coming this year (Note: a new ‘Interaction ..read more

Google’s focus on high-quality content really came into the foreground for SEOs last year alongside the search engine’s Helpful Content System and core algorithm updates that aimed to surface more content that demonstrates first-hand experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T — more on that below!). This prioritization of human-first content in the SERPs is almost certain to continue throughout 2024.  Content quantity has always been less important than content quality but moving forward, if search engines’ algorithms continue in the direction they have been going ..read more

Keeping Up With Rapid Search Engine Updates in 2024 and Beyond Search engines are always evolving. But with the introduction of new AI SERP features like Google’s SGE and Bing’s adoption of GPT-4 in recent months — not to mention new core algorithm updates like Google’s Helpful Content System and its prioritization of first-person “Hidden Gems” in search results —  it feels like the changes in search are coming at an accelerated pace. With a rapidly evolving search landscape, SEOs who narrowly rely on a set of well-trodden tactics rather than focusing on the bigger picture and creating we ..read more

Web developers and engineering team leaders — when you think of website performance optimization, what comes to mind?  Optimizing your website’s performance is about delivering a top-notch user experience, ensuring your content is accessible to all users, ensuring your site ranks well in search engines, and, ultimately, driving business success. Improving your site’s performance is paramount not just for users, but for your business as a whole since a mere 1-second delay in page load time can lead to a 26% reduction in conversions.  In this guide, we’ll explore how Lumar’s suite of w ..read more

This year, Lumar launched its inaugural Website Intelligence Survey to 140 web professionals around the globe. This research aims to discover how businesses currently gather meaningful website insights and examines the current challenges, opportunities, and tech stack selections of website teams in 2023. Despite recent macroeconomic turmoil, businesses are still prioritizing their websites as a key marketing channel — in fact, 65% of the professionals surveyed expect their budget for website projects to increase. But managing website intelligence is no easy feat — nearly 60% of respondents rep ..read more